Pastor’s message yesterday was all about forgiveness – well, not so much about the thing ‘forgiveness,’ rather it was a Biblical plea for us to forgive those who have hurt us in some way. It was a recurring message not only in churches, but anywhere the New Year is being welcomed. Forgiving could be the #1 Resolution every year since the calendar began rolling over.

Forgiving someone is often preceded by an apology, which is then followed by “I forgive you.” But what do we do when there’s no apology? How long can the “I forgive you” hang in the air awaiting its antecedent “I’m sorry” that may never come?

We’ve been told “Get over it,” or “Don’t hang on to the past,” or “Forgive and forget.” All well-meaning platitudes that we offer even when it’s not solicited, but something of a tool we might use to stop someone from whining about a slight or offense they’ve suffered and we’re tiring of listening to their story.

As a Christian I’m not supposed to quibble over forgiving vs not forgiving; it’s a mandate we’ve been given by our Lord Jesus Christ. It’s a pretty hard-and-fast rule, and leaves little room for disagreement. We’re supposed to forgive our brother/sister not just once, not just seven times, but seven times seventy times. Where’s the room for argument there?

But, you say, what do I do when I-the-injured-party attempt to forgive the Injuring-party and find they don’t feel they need forgiveness?

“It wasn’t ME!” “It was YOU!”

A true battle of the Who-Dunn-Its. Game over. Why bother? Nobody cares, anyway.

Except that I believe that God cares. I believe He cares about me and my ability move on, to grow up, to put others first … even when they might not deserve it…

I dred the perennial “New Year’s Resolution,” that uncompromising deal I make with myself to do something I should have been doing right along, but haven’t.

But on the brighter, encouraging, side it shows me that I don’t think of myself as the smartest person in the room but rather that I’m always hoping to be a better person, a person hungry to learn more and more, from people lots smarter than me.

The mistake I made was sharing those things I learned, sharing them with people who don’t have that same longing to learn. For me it’s hard to imagine that anyone wouldn’t want to learn something they didn’t know; they would then be free to share their new-found knowledge with others who might want to learn.

The Muslim Brotherhood’s plan for the Islamization of Earth is working perfectly. This story from JIHADWATCH.ORG is frightening on so many levels – not just for Swedes, but it should scare the pee out of Americans who allegedly pride themselves on their diverse culture and “freedom of religion.”

Like it or not, Islam is not a religion where its forte is to bring peace (or salvation) to its adherents, nor does it tolerate non-adherents. Unlike other religions of the world (including Christianity) Islam intends – Muhammad believed “God” authorized it – to be the ONLY religion and to dominate everywhere it is allowed to take hold.

Islam of course denies the divinity of Jesus – which to non-Christians is no big deal.

So, what are Christians to do about this blasphemy? Turn the other cheek? Speak to Muslims about the love of God and that explain to them that Jesus is the “…the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”? To be sure, many have had that conversation and have seen conversions; there have been Muslims who leave their faith and risk death for it.

Everyone who claims to be a Christian has a decision to make in regards to Islam and how they feel about it and whether they should be doing anything about it. Martyrdom is not out of the question; it’s surely being practiced in the Middle East, the “birthplace” of Islam.

Fox News “The Five” host, Juan Williams, called President Trump “despicable” tonight. Even so, I’m not one of those cats who feels he needs to go. Fox owes it to us to be “fair and balanced.” Actually, they don’t really “owe” anyone, but don’t they have an FCC license with some sort of mandate to produce material for the public good? I’m the public, and my liberal “friends” are also the public.

Elvis and I were just reading an article this morning about Libertarians these days being more like Lefties. Ron Paul must be rolling over in his grave – wait! He’s not dead yet, but if he were he’d be rolling over, and over. For that matter, Rand Paul must be finding it difficult to be LiberRepublican among the sizable group of Democ-republicans.

They’re all moving Left. Except Elvis. I couldn’t work for Elvis anymore if I moved one teeny bit to the center, let alone to the Left.